Columbus residents will join upwards of 10,000 participants from 22 cities for an 11th annual coast-to-coast event: The Torch Relay for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a charity that raises funds for children’s hospitals. The Columbus event will take place on Sunday, Oct. 14 at 8:30 a.m. and starts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Livingston Park, 700 Children’s Drive.

The Torch Relay for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is a multi-day event that traverses the country each fall, with participants running or walking to raise funds for their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

The Columbus event is a 5k walk that starts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, heads west on E. Livingston Ave. and turns south on Third Street through beautiful German Village; at Schiller Park, walkers will turn around and come back the same way. Walking alongside friends, family and co-workers, participants in Columbus will be raising money for Nationwide Children’s Hospital, one of 170 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals that treat 17 million children each year.

“The Torch Relay is a wonderful event that stops in Columbus each year and benefits Nationwide Children’s Hospital,” said Susan Brewer, Assistant Director for Annual Giving in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation. “This event has been a tremendous opportunity for our community to show their support by walking with their friends and families along a 5k route and raising awareness for one of the best causes we have in Columbus, the treatment for sick and injured kids in our community. I am so very proud to be involved again this year, and we wouldn’t be able to do this without the continued support from our friends at Marriott Hotels and other Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Partners.”

The goal of the 2012 relay is to raise $1.5 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals across the country. Registration is only $30 for adults(15 of which goes to the fundraising goal) $5. for children 3- 12 years of age and free for children 2 and younger; details and online registration information can be found at Torch-Relay.org/Columbus.

About Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® raises funds for 170 children’s hospitals across the United States and Canada, which, in turn, use the money where it’s needed the most. When a donation is given it stays in the community, helping local kids. Since 1983, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $4 billion, most of it $1 at a time. These donations have gone to support research and training, purchase equipment, and pay for uncompensated care, all in support of our mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible. Learn more at CMNHospitals.org.

About Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Ranked 7th of only 12 children's hospitals on U.S.News & World Report’s 2012-13 “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals Honor Roll,” Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit freestanding pediatric healthcare networks providing wellness, preventive, diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitative care for infants, children, and adolescents, as well as adult patients with congenital disease. In June 2012, the hospital celebrated completion of the largest pediatric expansion construction project in United States history, adding 2.1 million square feet of clinical, research and support facilities to total 5.3 million square feet on its main campus. A medical staff of 1,100 and 8,300 employees provide state-of-the-art pediatric care for nearly one million patient visits annually. As home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children’s Hospital physicians train the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric specialists. The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded freestanding pediatric research facilities. Nationwide Children’s remains true to the original mission since its founding in 1892 of providing care regardless of a family’s ability to pay. More information is available at NationwideChildrens.org.